I bet a lot of you out there have nice, long weekends. Don't you? You probably get Friday or Monday or something off, don't you. I hate you. NWU doesn't give us time off for diddley-poop. Oh, wait! On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, or classes are cancelled from 11-2. I'm serious. A day celebrating the long faught for victory of civil rights groups, complete with speakers and food, and we get an extended lunch break.

Enough of my crying like a little girl, though. It's a very special weekend for a lot of you out there. A weekend of great soul searching. Where you'll go into chruch, clasp your hands together, and wonder if you can write off the vaseline you bought for your secretary can be written off as a "work related expense". Yeah, it's tax-time. I'm thinking about writing off all of the games that I've purchased over the year as a "work-related" expense. I won't. Because defrauding the government would be wrong. Very, very wrong. After all, the government has always been honest and straightforward with me. The only polite thing to do would be to return the favor.

Shenmue
I love to spar. Gives me an excuse to kick the crap out of Fuku-san.

Assorted Nonsense

You suck!

You like that?

I'm sorry, did I blow your head apart?

Priests and PC's.

Yo, Chesh. Wasssssuuup?
Here are my questions!

1. In Xenogears, during a boss battle, there's a voice in the background? What is it saying? Is it telling me satanic messages, or something?

2. Speaking of Xenogears - Billy is the coolest preist ever! This was not a question, but I felt it had to be said.

3. What kind of computer do you use? Mac? PC?

4. Uh, you were talking about hamlet before, so I thought I'd ask you. Why doesn't Hamlet just go and kill the king right after his father's ghost tells him about the murder?

5. Last one! In Legend of Dragoon (hey, don't laugh ;( ), how do I learn new additions?

Cheshire Catalyst:
1. The creepy voice is saying "Sentient Mode is Capable"
2. I hate to burst your bubble, but from the looks of things, Billy came in 3rd.

You may ask, just who is "Magical Pope Girl"? Magical Pope Girl is a mystery! No one has ever taken a picture of her. She's a magical girl who has magical, pretty, pope power! She uses her special magic to spread love and joy to everyone and stop the evil youma who want to make girls lie, cheat and steal! Rumor has it, she's actually a young, mild-mannered student at St. Sakura's Middle School - but that is a secret!
3. Dell Dimension. Nice machine.
4. People used to ask Brad math questions, now I get your English homework. I see a future in AOL Homework help for me. Anyway, Hamlet doesn't haul off and kill Claudius for a couple reasons. One being, he's not sure if Claudius is really guilty. The ghost could have been just some wicked spirit out to trick him into killing an innocent man. Later, when Claudius confesses to himself and Hamlet overhears, Hamlet holds back his sword because Claudius is praying. Hambone knows that if he kills him then, then Claudius goes right to heaven. In the end, he just dumps some poison wine down his step-fathers throat and dies of a poisoned rapier wound. There are more, admittedly more subtle, reasons for Hamlet's motives, but this isn't ElizabethanDrama.com, is it? The moral of Hamlet? Don't procrastinate.
5. When you do an addition move, you gain Skill points. After you attain a certain number, you learn a new attack. Youll learn all of your additions this way - with the exception of a character's lat one. That one can only be learned by mastering the ones you already have.

Turn on, Plug In, Drop out.

I noticed on RPGamer the recent news of the PS2 going online in Japan. However, it wasn't detailed whether or not there would be broadband support. One of the biggest
disappointments with the DreamCast was the whole broadband adapter/support mixup for games like Phantasy Star Online. It is still unclear to me whether or not a DC
broadband adapter will work with PSO or not, lol. Will there be a 'broadband adapter' for PS2? The only means of internet connection that I have is my DSL connection, so
this is important for me to know, seeing as it will determine if I will be able to play games like FF11 online. Anyway, I'm really still confused on the status of Broadband for
DC and worried about the same for PS2. Also a quick simple question: Phantasy Star Online doesn't support the broadband adapter. Does that simply mean that if I use
one with PSO, I won't get the full-blown connection speed of my DSL, or does it mean that PSO won't recognize my DSL connection period?

Thanks!
- Mike

Cheshire Catalyst:
Here's the deal with PSO/Broadband. It doesn't work. The only way you CAN get it to work is to set the whole thing up using an imported copy of PSO. But if you wait a bit, PSO V.2, will support broadband directly - so you won't have to dig up an import. Your broadband connection -might- work, or it might not.

Yes, the Playstation 2 will support Broadband connections. Hooray!

It's been said before, but it bears repeating. Jahiera is one fine lady.

Hey Chesh-sta,

Nothing is more satisfying than beating down Irenicus with the help
of a bunch of wackos. So anyway, I invested 60 hours in Ogre Battle 64, got
the evil ending by accident, and now I'm playing it again to get the evil
ending on purpose. Going to the beach in a couple of months, need to get
back into the playstation, can't find a copy of Xenogears at Best Buy or
Blockbusters, what's a good price on Ebay for it? The end of Baldur's gate
II looked like it was ready for a sequel, but can they really raise the exp
cap higher than it already is?

Trile (I am not a loser)

Cheshire Catalyst:
Really, that has to be the saddest tag-line I've ever read. Looks like you need a copy of Mr. T's "Be Somebody, or Be Somebody's Fool" sent to you post-haste. Or maybe I'll send out the Care Bears to raise your self-esteem.

And, hell yes they need to raise the experience cap in Baldur's Gate 2. It's currently so low, your wizards can't achieve a level high enough to learn level 9 spells. The new Experience cap will be a whopping 8 million. How does that translate into levels for your characters? Here's a brief summary.

Fighter

Max Level: 40

Ranger/Paladin

Max Level: 34

Wizard

Max Level: 31

Cleric

Max Level: 43

Druid

Max Level: ??

Thief/Bard

Max Level: 46

The druid portion is blank because I'm unsure for Baldur's Gate 2: Throne of Bhall will handle the special heirophant druid rules. Under 2nd edition, a druid cannot exceed level 20. We'll just have to wait and see what the programmers do.
Still, is that sweet or what? A level 34 Paladin? Ohhhhhhh, that gives me tingles just thinking about how much evil I'll be able to smite with that power. Boo-yeah!

The best way to get over someone? Get under someone else!

A correction.

Xenogears Spoiler! Avert thine eyes!

Hello,

Yesterday, someone by the name, el-fenrir(?), sent in a letter that depicts
an almost perfect timeline for Xenogears, and as expected, he also made
several minor but very important mistakes. He had episodes 3-6 somewhat
lacking specific details but overall, correct nonetheless. The mistakes were
apparent with episode1-2. In episode one, he stated and I quote, "People
leave the Earth (it's no longer habitable) on the Eldrige". Well, aside from
the poor grammar and incoherency of that sentence, the real mistake here
is--not all the inhabitants of earth left, only half of the entire
population join the journey, and secondly, earth was never deem
uninhabitable at the time when the humans left, but rather when they
returned. In Perfect Works, it states that the humans left were on a convoy
journey to test Deus, but when they returned, an unknown force/phenomenon
has taken over the planet and wouldn't allow them passage--possibly a side
effect of the Zohar engine or Deus itself. Anyhow, in episode two, he
stated, "Abel meets Zohar. Miang/Elly conflict starts.". This sentence
contradicts the Perfect Works explanation in almost every sense. First off,
Abel never "meets" Zohar because in the book, it did not mention specifics
if the first incarnation of Fei ever made contact with Zohar nor if Abel was
even the same sole survivor of the Elridge crash as the lonely child in the
flashback sequence. Furthermore, Abel was labelled as the second incarnation
of Fei, not the first. And to round things up, there was never a conflict
between Miang/Elly because Miange gave birth to the Gazel and died, and Elly
didn't even exist prior or at the time of Miang.

I hope that wasn't too long but I felt that us Zenogias need to know the
actually facts. Thank you for reading and keep up the good work!

OK, this might seem wierd but when you play FM3 do you ever notice that: when
talking inside thier wanzers, the wanzers move like the person would outside?
I mean, do you spin and move your car around to talk to someone? It's like
the fact that the charachters only have 2 faces: normal face and angry face.

Ciphron"Angry face"Belovue

Tempers run high in 2115. Here's a typical day in Wanzer World.

Ryogo: Hey, Kazuki! Do you want an Oreo?
Kazuki: What the hell do you mean by that?
Ryogo: Chill, bro. I just wanted to know if you wanted a cookie.
Kazuki: DO I LOOK LIKE A COOKIE-BOY TO YOU?
Ryogo: What?
Kazuki: ...I am only upset because I am looking for my sister.
Alisa: I'm right here, dumbass.
Kazuki: Alisa!
Dennis: WE HAVE NO TIME FOR LOVE! NOW, WE FIGHT!

(Happosai rushes through a bag slung over his shoulder. He takes a dozen or
so pastel-colored eggs out of it and hides them, then rushes into Mistress
Nightshadow's room. When he runs out, he's stuffing her bra in the bag
while being chased by a highly-peeved MN.)

Heh heh heh, I'm this year's Easter Bunny! What do you think of that?

~Happosai
"I hide the eggs, then take a pantie or bra as payment. What's wrong with
that method?"
________________________

I always wondered what the deal with the easter bunny is. I mean, you hear everything about Santa Claus. Where he lives, how he makes his toys, how he travels, how he gets in your house, how he determines how much loot you get, etc. Easter Bunny? Nothing. Where does he get the candy? Where does he live the rest of the year? How the heck does he get in my house?! How do I distinguish him from all of the other rabbits that I either shoot or sic my murderous cat on?

Ok, I keep hearing that Xenogear's "You shall be as gods" is a bible quote. But where is it? A gospel quote or something?

-DragonGurl

Here it is from the King James Version. Genesis 3:4-5 "And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: / For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil."

So next time you sleep through church, just play some Xenogears. You'll be even-steven with the almighty. Maybe. I'll have to ask Magical Pope Girl about that.

Hey Chesh,

I have a....question that I'm embarrassed to ask. You see , I am a
huge Xenogears fan , but somehow , I have forgotten the entirety of Grahf's
'Mother of Destruction/power' speach!

And have you ever noticed that he only seems to give power to bald
guys?

"I will grant you the power! My fist is the divine breath! Blossom, o fallen seed, and draw upon thy hidden power. Grant unto thee the power of the
glorious 'Mother of Destruction!' " - Grahf

The Last Laugh:

Damn, today was mostly Xenogears questions. Maybe it's the upcoming holiday, or maybe it's all the Xenosaga buzz. See you tomorrow for our Easter Special!